Confronting the Demon
by Papergirl
Summary: Even at the carnival, you can't escape the Demon.


Title: Confronting the Demon  
  
Author: Amber (ambino1111@yahoo.com)  
  
Disclaimer: These are not the characters you're looking for  
  
Rating: PG-13 for some choice words  
  
Notes: Kira, you win. Have a fluffinutter sandwich  
  
Dedication: To the Demon at Six Flags: Great America. You know why.  
  
Summary: Even at the carnival, you can't escape the Demon.  
  
**  
  
"No way," Vaughn shook his head emphatically. "You're on your own this time."  
  
"Aw, c'mon," Sydney whined, tugging him in the direction of the long line. "We haven't gone on it all day."  
  
"There's a point to that, you know," He crossed his arms and stared at her.  
  
Her eyebrows furrowed. "You're serious?"  
  
Vaughn averted his gaze, kicking absently at a chunk of loose mud. "You go on it, and I'll go get us some more cotton candy."  
  
Sydney tried her best not to laugh. "You're afraid?"  
  
"I'm not afraid," He snapped petulantly.  
  
"You're afraid!" She exclaimed, feeling giddy with the realization. "You, Michael Vaughn, CIA agent extraordinaire – you are afraid of a little roller coaster?"  
  
"First of all," Vaughn's hands shot out defensively. "It's not a little roller coaster. Secondly, I've seen Lego kits that are put together more sturdily than that. Not to mention-"  
  
"I cannot believe you're afraid of a little roller coaster. Ooh, I can't wait to tell Weiss."  
  
He futilely fought down the flush spreading over his cheeks. "Word of this gets out to no one."  
  
"We'll see," Sydney smiled and walked off in the direction of the line. Seconds later she sensed him standing behind her. "I knew you would cave."  
  
"Stop smirking," He shoved his hands into his pockets.  
  
"You're so brave to conquer your fear."  
  
"Shut the hell up," She caught the glint in his eye and knew he wasn't truly angry. Still, how could a grown man be afraid of a roller coaster? Honestly.  
  
An idea struck her. "Vaughn, you've been on a roller coaster before, right?"  
  
"Yes," He pouted, slinking forward with the advancing line. "Many times."  
  
"Well, then, why the fear?" She tried to hide the lightheartedness in her question. Maybe he needed to talk about it with someone.  
  
"It's a long story," He said sullenly, sighing as he and Sydney climbed into one of the cars. The cold metal bars, covered with chipped yellow paint, slid down and locked into place, leaving a good inch or two between his legs and the only thing assuring his safety in the upcoming three and a half minutes. "Just so you know," He leaned his mouth towards her ear in order to speak over the noise of the cars grinding forward on the ricochety track. "I'm only doing this now because I could die a happy man."  
  
"Bullshit," She grinned at him. "You're only doing this to save yourself from torment at the office."  
  
His grin disappeared quickly as the cars started the forty five degree angle ascent into the cloudy sky. Sydney reached her hand over and grasped his, flashing him a reassuring smile. He squeezed her hand in thanks, then forced his eyes to stay open and tear-free.  
  
"We'll be back on terra firma before you even know it," Sydney whispered serenely, though her voice betrayed the excitement she always felt at the beginning of a roller coaster ride.   
  
****  
  
"You were saying?" Vaughn glanced over at her, feeling not one iota of satisfaction in their current situation.  
  
Sydney couldn't help grinning as she stared back at him, her hair streaming towards the ground as the two sat upside down in the first loop-de-loop. "All right, you can say it."  
  
Vaughn was so focused on not looking down, er, above him, that he shrugged off the rare opportunity to say 'I told you so.' Instead, he clutched desperately at the edge of the car.  
  
"How much longer are we going to be up here?" He asked, wishing he could let go long enough to check his watch. They had already been stuck upside down for a good half an hour, and the blood was starting to rush to his head.  
  
"The operator said it should only be a few more minutes before the fire department gets here."  
  
"The fire department should have had a truck on standby," He pouted, trying not to panic. He didn't like his life being dependent on a twenty year old piece of rusted metal. And, well, that had been a 44 ounce lemonade he drank with the corn dog for lunch. He wanted to get down now. No, he needed to get down now.  
  
"Syd, that's it, I'm going for it," He started to tug frantically on the metal bars.   
  
"Are you insane? Sit still!" She grabbed his arm. "Vaughn, they'll be here any second."  
  
"I can't do it anymore," His voice sounded strange to her. She was afraid he was going to start hyperventilating soon. That is, if he didn't fall to his death first.  
  
"Vaughn," She repeated his name three more times with no response. Drawing at straws, she tried a quiet "Vaughn."  
  
That did the trick. He looked over at her, his eyes wide, cheeks flushed, and upside-down hair swaying slightly in the breeze. "What?"  
  
"Relax. Look at yourself, okay? You're going to be fine. The fire department will be here any second-"  
  
"Why can't we break out now?"  
  
"It's not prison!" She exclaimed, waving her hand towards the dirt several dozen feet below them. "You can't just break out of a roller coaster!"  
  
"But we can. If we both pull at the same time, it should be enough force to-"  
  
Sydney fixed her most logical glare at him. He relented with a sigh. "Fine, fine. We'll stay right here and plummet to our deaths."  
  
"That's more like it," She nodded, feeling even more lightheaded at the movement. "Now, stop me if I'm wrong, but we have some time to kill here, and I think this is the perfect opportunity to hear all about why you're afraid of roller coasters."  
  
A flabbergasted laugh escaped from his lips. "Are you serious? Do I need a reason other than this?" He waved his arms around, indicating their current anti-gravitational position.  
  
"Yes," She answered simply.   
  
He looked at her, then at the ground, then at her. Squeezing his eyes shut, he took a deep breath. "I really don't want to talk about it, okay?"  
  
"It can't be that bad."  
  
"It's like talking about a fear of flying while your plane is about to hit the water."  
  
"C'mon," She urged. "You know I'll get it out of you eventually."  
  
He grimaced. "It's very personal," He said. His eyes remained closed and missed the hurt look on his girlfriend's face.   
  
"Too personal for me to know?"   
  
"Sydney, I didn't mean anything by it. I just, I'm trying to take my mind off of this right now. Can't we discuss it later?"  
  
"Sure," She agreed flippantly. "That is, if we survive this ordeal."  
  
His eyes snapped open. "That was mean."  
  
"And you weren't?"  
  
"Fine," He groaned. "I'll tell you the damn story. Just be quiet and don't shake the car."  
  
"Consider it done."  
  
"Great," He tried to slow his wildly beating heart before he began to speak. The attempt wasn't too successful. "I was six years old, and my father was taking me on my first ride on a roller coaster."  
  
Sydney managed to suppress an "aw" at the adorable mental image of babyVaughn walking hand-in-hand with his beloved father to a roller coaster.  
  
"I had been wanting to go on one since I was four or so. But I wasn't tall enough until that summer. So my dad and I went to the amusement park on one of his rare days off of work, and I pestered him so much that he relented and we were first in line."  
  
Vaughn's eyes snapped open and his attention was directed downward at the sound of an approaching vehicle.  
  
"We're saved!" He cheered. Sydney glared down at their rescuers.   
  
"You're not getting out of that anecdote that easily, buddy," She poked him in the shoulder, but he didn't notice.  
  
"Can we get out first?" He called down to the team of uniformed men circling below their heads. "The kids can wait!"  
  
"Vaughn!" Sydney glanced over at the car of grade schoolers in front of them.  
  
"What?" He asked innocently.   
  
"Never mind," She decided. "But finish your story."  
  
"Not with freedom so close at hand," His eyes were trained on the ladder slowly climbing towards the sky, the most beautiful stairway to heaven he had ever seen.  
  
"Vaughn!" She hated to whine, but he had let her no choice.  
  
"Ask me the next time we're trapped on a roller coaster."  
  
"I doubt I'll physically be able to drag you on another one of these."  
  
"Precisely."  
  
She was relieved he seemed back to normal, but she still wanted to know what had happened to traumatize poor babyVaughn for decades.  
  
"Well, if you're not going to tell me, maybe I'll just call Weiss and ask him."  
  
"Go ahead," He said. "He knows nothing."  
  
"I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear you said that."  
  
"I meant, I never told him about it."  
  
Sydney was surprised. "I thought you told him everything."  
  
"Not this."  
  
"Why not? Vaughn, I'm expecting horrible things now. It can't be worse than what I'm imagining. Did you throw up? Did you and your dad get caught upside down like us? What?"  
  
"It's not that it's a really bad thing," He started, swallowing a cheer as he watched the rescue workers successfully extract two of the passengers from the car in front of them. "It's just a personal thing, between me and my dad."  
  
"Oh." Sydney didn't know how to respond to that. "Forget it then."  
  
"No, no, I want to tell you, but-" Their conversation was interrupted by the cheerful "Hello" of a fireman standing on a ladder directly below them.   
  
Vaughn fought the urge to kiss the ground as soon as he hopped off of the truck. He grinned at Sydney as she dropped down beside him.  
  
"Let's forget all about that unpleasantness," He decided cheerfully, pulling her towards the house of mirrors.  
  
"Where are we going?" She asked.  
  
"How about the house of mirrors? I love those things!"  
  
Sydney slipped her hand out of his grasp and swallowed uncomfortably. "Why don't we play some more games?"  
  
"Why?" He was curious. "What's wrong with the house of mirrors?"  
  
"N-nothing," She said quickly. "I just want to win you another stuffed Tweety bird."  
  
His face lit up in devious delight. "Is the great Sydney Bristow afraid of a few mirrors?"  
  
"No." She glared at him, her arms crossed defiantly across her chest. "How about I get us some cotton candy?"  
  
He grinned and led her into line. "It's a bunch of mirrors, Sydney. What's the worst that could happen?"  
  
**  
  
The End 


End file.
